We specialise in needlecrafts, patchwork, quilting, cross stitch, tapestry, felting and so much more. As we attend different events, launch new products, learn new techniques and who knows what else might takes our fancy, we will share our adventures with you.

Thursday, July 31, 2014

I have been making my Aurifil Blocks from my scrap box. It is an
interesting concept for me as I like to be quite controlled with my fabrics. I rarely use more than 5-6 fabrics in a project. So I have no idea how this project is going to turn
out or if I am going to like it with the mix of fabrics I have used. We will
see what happens. I do like all the blocks but do they go together. Should I
even be worried about this? What do you think?

Here is my block for July. I have finished
this block just in time, as August's block is just around the corner.

Tuesday, July 29, 2014

This one was on my To Do List back in January and I am happy to
say it is completed. Some of you out there would have seen some pictures of
this quilt in various stages of production. I made this quilt using the
Inklingo 1 1/2 inch hexagons and yes I did hand piece the hexagons
strips but with Linda's excellent tutorials you can easily machine piece your
hexagons together. You can find more about printing on to fabric at the Inklingo blog if you haven't come
across Inklingo before and you will be seeing a lot more here on my blog as I
complete my star project and get ready for my next Inklingo project.

Now for this quilt.

I started with some fabrics from the
Sweetness range and added a couple extra fabrics.

I washed my fabrics and pressed. Then
following the Inklingo instructions I cut the fabric to the right size to fit
through my printer and cut matching freezer paper then pressed the freezer
paper to the right side of the fabric so I can print on the wrong side.

You can just see my printed lines on the back of my fabric.

I started by making a variety of
hexagon flowers then I filled the sides with half hexagons.

This is how I press my blocks.

I laid out my flowers into 3 strips by 7
flowers when I was happy with the layout I joined each flower with a row of
neutral hexagons until the strip reached the desired length.

This pattern is
easily increased in size by making the rows longer and adding more rows.
Next I measured the length of my hexagon strip and that gives you the
measurement for your border strips. Cut the border strip then lay them out
alternately with your hexagon strips.

Then sew your rows together to complete
your top. I did some free motion quilting over the hexagon flowers and did some
straight stitching following a line or two in the border strip.

To complete this quilt I picked the
boldest fabric for my binding to finish it off and here it is.

Monday, July 28, 2014

Talk about cutting it fine with my block of the month blocks but I
did manage to get my Globetrotting block 'Sydney' done just in time. This is
the second city featured in this project that I can say I have been to.

My July block Sydney.

There are
four other projects still to be done before the end of the month they may not
get done at the rate I am getting things done and I am slightly occupied with
finishing the binding on my Camellia Hexagon Strip Quilt and my Layer Cake Sampler. The lure
of finishing a couple of project was too great. Look out for the posts on these
two projects shortly.

Saturday, July 26, 2014

I was planning to work on my BOM blocks this afternoon and catch
up on July’s blocks but as I sat down at the sewing machine there was a few
pieces of the Celtic Solstice pieced border sitting there ready for piecing. I
really want to finish this one before we start this year’s mystery, so back to
the cutting mat and I cut the remaining pieces to finish the blocks for this
border and finished sewing them together.

I got the top border on not a problem
and look who turns up just in time for her photo to be taken. That is Ponchee,
so cute sitting there behaving herself.

That didn't last long. There seemed to be
a lump under my quilt when I returned to pin the last border on.

On further
investigation look who it is. Ponchee!

Eventually I got to sew the last side of the border on.
So there is only one more border left for tomorrow.

Then that is 3 quilt tops
ready for quilting. I think I see a quilting day in my future. This looks
like a chance for some more free motion quilting practice. I did purchase some
new quilting aids at last weekend’s event so this might be the perfect chance
to try them out.

Monday, July 21, 2014

The Adelaide Sewing, Stitching and Handcraft Show is over for
2014. We had a big weekend so today I have spent the day completing all the
orders from the weekend and putting the stock away. A special thank you goes to
Cathy, Maureen and my long suffering husband for their help over the weekend. I
hope they enjoyed the show. These show are great for us to get out to meet our customers and for them to see our latest products in person. Of course you can purchase any of our products at www.cynthiasark.com.au These shows are a lot of work and I know we
were tired by the time we had everything packed away in the trailer last night.
I did find the time to learn a few new things. There were some great
workshops to attend. Plus I brought a few things I needed to improve my free
motion quilting. There was so much more I could have brought but I was there to
sell. Here are some more pictures of my stall.

Finally after a number of weeks of sitting waiting to be quilted
my camellia quilt made it to the sewing machine for some free motion quilting.
If you have been following my blog this year you will know this is an area I
decide to work on. I wanted to go past stippling and go somewhere I haven't
been.

So here is my attempt at branching out, I
have had a go at flowers in my hexagon flower strips. Circles have been a
problem, so I need to practise them. I want to be able to flow
through the design rather than stopping and starting all the time. That is how I end up
pointy circles. Maybe I should create a design that uses pointy circles
instead. I know more practise is the key.

Saturday, July 19, 2014

We have had a busy two days and still one more to go. There is lots to see and do with two events on at the same time so come down to the Adelaide Showgrounds Wayville South Australia. We still have plenty of bargains to be brought so visit stall 134.

Tuesday, July 15, 2014

Welcome to the final round of the 2014 New Quilt Blogger Blog
Hop. I hope you have been enjoying it so far. I know I have, I have met a
number of new friends and learned so much about blogging and quilting. A big thank you goes to Beth at Plum and June who organised this blog hop.

Let me introduce myself. My name is
Cynthia Woodham and I live with my husband Ian and 4 cats Cisco,Ponchee, Saffy and Denim in the small
country town of Mallala, South Australia.

I am a long time crafter. I have tried
lots of needlecrafts, I started with knitting, cross stitch, tapestry etc but it
wasn't until 2006 that I tried quilting and it was all to a friend who
suggested I sell fat quarters on my craft stall. I resisted at the start saying
I didn't know anything about patchwork/quilting but that didn't stop her. So I
added them and after a few months of selling them and of being asked quilting questions I thought
I should learn the basics, so I joined a beginner class. Just
to learn the basics was my attitude as I had very little machine sewing
experience.

While doing my beginners classes I met
Kate, one of the other teachers teaching there. Kate was teaching a hand piecing class and
after seeing her Sunburst blocks I wanted to learn. So I took her class and
discovered I love hand piecing even more than machine piecing. What do
you prefer machine or hand piecing? I would love to hear your thoughts.

My first hand pieced project.

You will always see a mix of machine
piecing and hand piecing here on my blog as I always have multi projects on the
go including block of the months, sew alongs, my latest crazy creations and who
knows what else I will get up to.

The other thing I love is
batik fabrics I always have something going in batiks and I love showing others
how to use batik fabrics with the mainstream quilting cottons and how different
a batik version of a pattern looks. You can always find a great range of batik
fabric plus loads more on our websiteCynthia's Ark .

Jasper's Trail

My Lone Star Quilt is my favourite.

My favourite quilting tip at the moment is I use bandage tape on the back of my rulers and templates as it has a
rough texture to it, it helps grip your fabric when cutting and we all know how
important cutting is.

My blogging tip has probably already been
mentioned but it is important. Take Good photos! Do the best you can when taken your
photos (I take more than one), as a good picture can often say more than words.
It is an area I am still working on, not all my photos are as good as I would like.

Until next time

Keep Stitching

Cynthia

Make sure you visit the other wonderful
quilters participating in this blog hop. I know I will be.

We
are halfway through July and I am wondering where the last 6 weeks has
gone. I just don't seem to be getting anywhere fast. I am falling behind in
most of my projects and the pile is building as I have now found another UFO in
a box that I started God know when. Does this happen to anyone else? or is it just me who finds forgotten projects.

There are a number of these blocks in two colourways, I have English Paper pieced these blocks. At least there is some extra fabric, papers and instructions all together in a ziplock bag. Not like my star quilt which is now ready for some quilting when I am free. I think I was going to make a lap quilt with these blocks but I am thinking I might make a table runner instead.

Friday, July 11, 2014

I know I have fallen behind, on a number of projects. Here the
last block in this project.

There were a
few design options for the final layout but I was thinking of something a
little different, as sewing them in a block of four doesn't appeal to me. In
the end I have sewn them into a row for a table runner. Now I have to decide on
the borders. One border or two borders. I am thinking of two borders. What do you think?

Until next time

Keep Stitching

Cynthia

PS I collected my Layer Cake Sampler Quilt
from the long arm quilter today. It is fantastic. Now it is binding time.

Saturday, July 5, 2014

Not at lot of sewing has been happening here, at least not at the
machine. I have managed a little hand piecing on my star quilt and consisting
it is the Independence Day long weekend in the US, I thought I would share an update
on my reworked star quilt. If you saw the last post on this quilt you will know
the pattern and most of the fabric used in it has vanished. While looking for a
triangle ruler I found a handful of offcuts from this project in the bottom on my
project drawer in my filing cabinet but still where is the rest! I didn't find
the right triangle ruler either; I have used it and not put it away. Damn
it! You know I will find the pattern, fabric and the missing ruler after I
didn’t need any of it, don’t you.

Maybe today I can get to the sewing
machine as the sewing pile is growing. I may not have time to sew but when I
have had a spare 5 minutes here and there I have been cutting for projects. It
make me feel I am at least going the prep work done so when I have time at the
sewing machine I am ready to sew.

Only one more row to sew on this
quilt. Maybe by the end of this coming
week the top will be finished. Then it will be quilting time. Then I will have
to think up a name for my new quilt. Any ideas on a name for this quilt? Please
share any ideas.